


I Will Remember

by narusasunaruheadcanons



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Humor, Christmas, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Mr Roary, Office Workmates, Secret Santa, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 11:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5783440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narusasunaruheadcanons/pseuds/narusasunaruheadcanons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt:  “I got you for secret Santa & I’m debating on whether to get you a serious gift or play the biggest prank of the year because I know your dirty little secret.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Remember

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I wish you all the best of luck for the new year! I hope it’s amazing for you ♡♡♡

“Alright everyone! Gather ‘round! It’s time to be given your Secret Santa!” Kakashi called out jovially, capturing everyone’s attention and waving them over to the centre of the coffee break room. 

Naruto stood up from his chair and happily began to make his way over, but was suddenly pushed to the side by someone.

“Watch it, idiot. How many times are you going to keep getting in my way?”

That someone was none other than his fellow employee and royal pain in the ass Sasuke Uchiha. Blue eyes narrowed angrily, a spark of aggravation igniting almost instantly. 

“Oh, excuse me your majesty. Do you want me to roll out the fucking red carpet for you?” Naruto replied sardonically, doing a mock bow and earning a particularly sour glower from Sasuke. 

“Language, Uzumaki. We’re not all ignorant slobs like you, we prefer to use actual English words.” Clearly finished with the conversation, Sasuke then shoved his way past Naruto and over to where a small crowd was gathering around Kakashi who were pulling names from a Santa hat.

That bastard! Just because Sasuke was _technically_ his superior, didn’t mean he had to answer to him! As far as he was concerned, Kakashi was still top dog around here. As if he’d ever bend to that asshole’s will, he thought mopily as Naruto joined the crowd. 

And then when it was his turn, and Naruto prayed to whatever gods were up there that he would not see that dreaded name on his slip of paper. He reached his arm in, rummaged around a bit, and then finally picked one. Inhaling a breath, he unfolded it and peered down at the scrawled name…

_Sasuke Uchiha._

_…Damn it all!_ Of all the odds, they just had to be against his favour didn’t they? He didn’t _want_ to give the bastard a present, he didn’t deserve one! Well…he was always a hard worker, and motivated their team to keep getting better and better…but _still!_

Using all the absolute willpower and strength he had, Naruto kept his expression fairly neutral, not smiling nor frowning. He knew if he so much as frowned or upturned his nose in distaste everyone would know who he had gotten. He wasn’t exactly discreet about his animosity towards Sasuke, the same vice versa. 

The rest of the day passed by in boring gloominess, made even worse by the fact Naruto had to stay late in the office. Even worse than that - he was stuck late here with Sasuke. Naruto made a face at the very thought, though he was pretty sure Sasuke was unaware of his presence. Rarely did the Uchiha leave his office, deeming he worked better in silence without the distractions of the work area. 

_Yeah right._ Naruto personally thought it was because Sasuke couldn’t stand how awesome and funny he was. The jerk was just _jealous_! Naruto blew out a long sigh, picking up the next pile of paperwork and starting to go over it, yet his mind still wandered. Of course he would end up with someone like Sasuke. Naruto guessed that someone like himself, with a big and warm heart, had to give something for the ice princes of the world - simply because nobody else would bother with it. 

Half an hour later, Naruto had finally finished with everything and stood from his desk, stretching his arms up over his head and rolling his shoulders to loosen up. He smothered a yawn on the back of his hand and checked the time. 6.15pm. Damn, that had taken a lot longer than he wanted. 

Packing his things, he grabbed his keys and made ready to go. On his way out, he passed Sasuke’s office, and noticed the door was ajar. Curious, Naruto silently stepped closer and peered in through the opening at an angle he made sure he was mostly concealed from. 

And what he saw nearly made him blow his cover, as he struggled not to burst out laughing. 

There, perched at the top right-hand corner of Sasuke’s huge and cluttered desk of papers, pens and folders, was a small stuffed toy dinosaur. Now Naruto had only been inside Sasuke’s office a handful of times, but he would swear on his entire supply of ramen that he had never seen that kid’s toy on Sasuke’s desk before!

“These forms shouldn’t be filed under this,” Sasuke murmured under his breath, chewing on the end of his pen - _I didn’t know he did that too! Of all the damn times he’s scolded me for it, he’s just as guilty!_ Naruto thought in delight, relishing this rare insight to a totally different side of Sasuke - and shuffling and re-shuffling the papers. 

“What do you think, Mr. Roary?” Sasuke asked, picking up the small dinosaur and holding it up to his face, as if he was waiting for it to answer him. 

_It has a name too!_ Naruto thought, way too amused and clutching his stomach as he reigned in his silent laughter. 

“Ah, you’re right. It should be with this folder, just as I thought.” Sasuke declared, placing the dinosaur - no, _Mr. Roary_ , back on his desk and giving him a pat on the head as if to say ‘good job’. 

Naruto couldn’t take it anymore, and with the stealth of a ninja in the night disappeared down the hallway and pressed the button for the elevator. Only once he was inside and the doors had closed did Naruto release his laughter. He had to hold onto the elevator railing, because _oh man!_ This was just too priceless! 

Sasuke Uchiha bringing his childhood toy to work was something Naruto had thought only existed in a fantasy dreamworld. 

_Now things are getting interesting_ , he thought with a massive grin on his face as he waltzed out the elevator and through the reception area. And he had a dilemma on his hands: should he play by the rules and get Sasuke a perfectly sensible gift for his perfectly sensible uptight ass? Or should he stick with his roots and play a prank on Sasuke about his dirty little secret? 

Whatever the case, he had some shopping to do!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since everyone was designated their Secret Santas, and finally it was the day where everyone did the big reveal. In complete contrast to when he was given his Secret Santa, this time Naruto was trying to keep a straight face for completely different reasons. He was trying so hard not to burst out laughing, as he held his gift bag and moved into the coffee break room. 

“Time to exchange Secret Santa gifts everyone! Let’s do it now so you can all go back to work and I can go back to reading.” Kakashi called, and sure enough Naruto caught sight of their boss’s favourite novel…which was definitely not safe for work! 

Naruto waited however, hanging back while everyone was exchanging gifts. His Secret Santa had turned out to be Shino, who had gotten him a surprisingly nice pot plant that produced lovely white flowers. He had thanked the quiet guy profusely, and had even given him a half-hug - which still managed to be sort of awkward since Shino wasn’t a touchy-feely guy. 

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke was looking around for his person - and he wasn’t even glancing in Naruto’s direction. That jerk didn’t even want to consider him an option! Well, it was time for some action!

Strolling around, Naruto took his time coming over to Sasuke. Stopping for some food along the way and chatting briefly with Lee. About half of the people had already left, but some still remained. When he finally stood in front of him, Sasuke crossed his arms and looked him up and down.

“Something you needed, idiot?”

“Me? Nah, I’m good Sasuke.” Naruto gave him a friendly grin, and that was when Sasuke’s eyes began to narrow, “I think you might need something though. Something like a gift. maybe?”

Sasuke deadpanned. “Please don’t tell me you’re my Secret Santa.”

“Surprise! Happy Christmas, ya bastard!” Naruto thrust the gift bag at Sasuke who closed his eyes and didn’t do a very good job stifling a groan.  He was clearly not impressed, and Naruto couldn’t blame him. He’d probably react the same - more intensely - if Sasuke had been his Secret Santa. 

“I should know better by now not to participate in these events,” Sasuke mumbled, taking the gift bag rather tetchily and sparing a moment to glare at Kakashi, “Damn scarecrow has it out for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, quit whining and open it already. Trust me, this gift is big enough for Jurassic Park.” Naruto urged, pushing back the giggle that was bubbling in his throat. 

“It doesn’t look that big to me,” Sasuke said judgementally, reaching inside the bag and Naruto had to bit his lip. 

“What…is…” Sasuke’s voice cut itself off as he pulled out from the bag a frilly full-length apron, with a picture of Mr. Roary (Naruto had specifically looked up the toy brand and everything to replicate the picture) imprinted on the front and the words ‘Dino-mite in the kitchen’ just above him. 

“You should show the little guy, I’m sure he’ll love it,” Naruto barely finished his sentence before breaking down into a fit of giggles and soon enough it turned into laughter. 

“Ah, Sasuke, isn’t that Mr. Roary? The one you have in your office?” Kakashi declared, his attention caught as he casually walked over and peered down at the apron. Kakashi’s voice had attracted the attention of some of the other employees in the room who glanced over curiously to catch a glimpse of Sasuke’s present. 

“You, shut up!” Sasuke demanded, pointing at Kakashi, then he turned to Naruto, “And you!”

An angry and embarrassed blush filled Sasuke’s cheeks as he shoved the apron back into the gift bag and grabbed Naruto by the ear, twisting it. Naruto’s bouts of laughter were soon reduced to cries of pain.

“Aughh! Sasuke!! Ow, ow! It hurts!” Naruto whined, waving his arms around like a little kid and flailing like a noodle on the spot. 

“You think you’re funny, huh!? You stupid moron!” Sasuke twisted his ear super hard one last time before letting go and flicking Naruto on his nose harshly. 

Then without another word Sasuke turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, the gift bag swinging wildly at his sides as he did so. Naruto rubbed his ear and pouted. 

“Well merry Christmas to you too, asshole!” He yelled at Sasuke’s retreating back, and everyone was either laughing, sighing, or totally confused. 

“Good one, Naruto. I’m so glad you were his Secret Santa because nobody else would have done something like this,” Kakashi murmured to him, showing him the thumbs up. Naruto blinked at him and then grinned mischievously and laughed some more.  

“Alright! All gifts exchanged? Good! Back to work you go!” Kakashi then called out, and Naruto lost some of his mirth. _Damn work!_

* * *

The Secret Santa was done during lunch break, and after that the usual work proceeded. But Kakashi must have been feeling generous today, since he let them go home an hour earlier. 

Naruto had so desperately wanted to take advantage of it, but since he had been working so much on Sasuke’s gift/prank he had some untended paperwork to tend to. An hour and a half later, he was finished, and looking at the clock he knew a certain someone would still be here too. Naruto hadn’t seen Sasuke since lunch, but he knew the guy well enough to know he didn’t take an early mark ever. 

So he grabbed his things and went looking for him. Only thing was, he couldn’t find him. Naruto searched every cubicle, tried Sasuke’s office - it was locked, and he could see nobody was in there, and searched even the men’s toilet! No sign of Sasuke.

_Where did that bastard go?_ Naruto thought as he walked inside the elevator, patting his hands around his pockets. He wasn’t done with Sasuke yet…

However, his mind came crashing to a halt when he saw none other than Sasuke Uchiha in the reception area.

“You must be thrilled.” Sasuke muttered, not turning around as he addressed Naruto. He was sitting in the receptionist area, of course the receptionist and everyone else had long ago left. “You managed to make a fool out of me, in public no less.”  

“It was definitely one of my finer moments.” Naruto admitted after a slight pause, hands in his pockets as he ambled over towards Sasuke, plonking down in the empty seat next to him. 

A long bout of silence passed between them, but strangely enough Naruto didn’t think it was one of animosity. In fact it was sort of…peaceful. Huh, how weird was that? They just sat side by side, the snow starting to fall as seen through the large front windows.

“How did you find out?” Sasuke said, his voice fairly quiet and his hands linked together resting in his lap. 

Sucking his teeth for a bit, Naruto tilted his head to the side and said, “Couple months ago, I was staying late at the office…” And Naruto told him all about the story of Mr. Roary and the filing. It might have just been his wistful imagination but Naruto thought he saw Sasuke’s cheeks redden slightly when Naruto mentioned the part about patting the dinosaur’s head. It was…kind of… _cute_?

Naruto then decided that associating ‘cute’ with Sasuke was a strange and unnatural thought. 

“I see.” Sasuke nodded, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I’m actually more shocked about the fact that you stayed back late.” He smirked tauntingly at Naruto, who ignored the feeling of relief that Sasuke wasn’t so upset to miss a chance to mock him, and instead stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha. 

“Shut up, bastard. I work just as hard as you do.” Removing a hand from his pocket, Naruto pulled out with it a small, messily-wrapped present and pushed it in Sasuke’s direction. 

Raising a thin eyebrow, Sasuke looked at him suspiciously, “What is this?”

“Bastard, what does it look like? Are you making fun of my gift-wrapping skills!?” Raising the other hand, the hand that wasn’t currently holding Sasuke’s gift, Naruto waved a clenched fist in Sasuke’s direction threateningly. _The jerk!_

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because I’m your Secret Santa.” Naruto said, because wasn’t it freaking _obvious_? Sheesh! And Sasuke called _him_ dumb. 

Drawing his brows together, Sasuke shook his head, “But, you already-”

“Look, I know we don’t see eye to eye and you’re an icy pile of reindeer shit most of the time, but it’s Christmas. Everyone deserves something nice for Christmas.” Naruto stated bluntly, pushing the small box into Sasuke’s hands forcefully.

Sasuke eyed the thing like it was a ticking bomb, “Are you just pranking me and when I open this thing it’ll do something idiotic like explode paint on my face?”

“Just open the damn thing, you bastard.” Naruto growled.

Crinkling his nose, Sasuke furrowed his brows and went about unwrapping the gift. There was no ripping or tearing, just patient pulling apart of the paper. Naruto had to stifle a sigh of exasperation. If it was him he would’ve been done by now!

Eventually, Sasuke had the gift unwrapped and picked it up. Staring at the small velvet box, he looked up at Naruto and rose an eyebrow. The blonde just glared at him. _Hurry up already!_ He really hoped he hadn’t screwed up, and he actually hoped Sasuke would like this gift. It had been expensive and was worth a lot of money…but Naruto hadn’t been thinking about the money when he had bought it. Just Sasuke…

His heart beat faster as he watched Sasuke’s eyes widen upon opening the velvet box. He didn’t take his eyes off Sasuke as he pulled out the Nixon wristwatch, with the single word _Itachi_ engraved across the bottom half of the watch face.

In an instant Sasuke had turned to face him completely, eyes wide and Naruto vaguely marvelled at the fact he had gotten Sasuke Uchiha to look so shocked. 

“You-”

“Everyone knows you’ve had a tough year. Not all of them remember though all the shit you went through those first few months. I couldn’t believe it when you came back after not even a month had passed.”

Yes, because earlier that very year Sasuke’s older brother Itachi was killed in a plane crash. Obviously as an Uchiha, Itachi had ridden in one of their private jets. But also as an Uchiha, he had a lot of enemies. Somebody had tampered with the engine, the plane went down, and Itachi was dead. 

Naruto had been in the office along with a few choice others (it had been late in the afternoon) when Sasuke got the call, and he honestly had never seen a sight more heartbreaking than that of Sasuke dropping all of his paperwork on the floor, shaking like a leaf in a violent storm and tears running down his cheeks as he clutched at the phone and staggered out of the building, luckily with Kakashi following him close behind. 

“You’re really strong, y'know? Strongest person I’ve met.” Naruto looked at Sasuke, even though the Uchiha was just staring down at the watch in his hands, running his fingers over it.  

Not even Naruto would admit he was strong enough to face work everyday after such a tragedy. Sasuke had been professional, efficient, and had gotten them all some sort of increase in pay over the past year. 

That was why all those times Naruto had caught Sasuke getting emotional in his office, or starting to tear up for seemingly no reason, he would immediately distract everyone’s attention away from him. He felt the need to protect him, and he didn’t know why. Perhaps because Sasuke wanted the choice of grieving in privacy. If he didn’t let anyone see his pain, he wouldn’t be treated like some piece of glass. 

The blonde wasn’t that insensitive to not give Sasuke a serious gift, and he had known just how much Itachi had meant to Sasuke. When he was alive, he was a constant topic of conversation for Sasuke, whether Sasuke was referencing his older brother’s ideas or deciding the next course of action to take, what Itachi would do.

After he’d passed however, Sasuke hadn’t said a word about him. Everyone noticed it, but nobody said anything. They’d tread carefully around the Uchiha, even Naruto had backed off for a while. Until one day Sasuke had yelled at him for filing the wrong thing (Naruto had graciously taken on more paperwork to lessen Sasuke’s workload but even that wasn’t good enough) and the blonde had just exploded in Sasuke’s face, yelling at him and insulting him just as they had before.

And Sasuke…Sasuke had stared at him in complete silence for a five full minutes, everyone holding their breath, and then -  the most surprising thing, Sasuke had actually _smirked_ for the first time since his brother’s death, even started _chuckling!_ Had called Naruto an idiot, and had gone off with the paperwork without another word.

Needless to say, Naruto didn’t try and treat Sasuke any differently from that point onwards.

As much as he and Sasuke were at each other’s throats, Naruto truly didn’t hate the guy. He was just arrogant sometimes, and mean…and a total stick in the mud. 

Yet Naruto felt something else for Sasuke…and he wasn’t sure what it _was_ because whenever he felt it pushing to the surface he would push it back down. 

Sasuke was _puzzling_ , that was the only thing Naruto knew for sure. 

“I’m sure he’s really proud of you, too.” Naruto said, and he didn’t need to say any names for Sasuke to understand who he meant. 

“You must be fucking broke, you idiot.” Sasuke’s voice was scratchy, as was the huff of laughter he wheezed out at the end. 

Naruto chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “Well, I won’t be buying that gingerbread house I’ve had my eye on in Rangen Bakery for a while.”

“You like gingerbread?” Sasuke turned towards him, eyes still wide and Naruto found he liked having the raven-haired man’s attention on him when it was innocent. 

“Of course! Where do you think all the complementary gingerbread men we put out for our customers go?” Naruto grinned and gave a cheeky wink, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, lips pursed ready to scold him. 

“Joking, I’m joking!” Naruto held up his hands in surrender, but was still grinning as he continued, “I only take one a day. See? I know how to prioritise.”

Sasuke stared at him a moment more, then scoffed and shook his head,“I like it as well.” Naruto listened as Sasuke spoke, watching keenly as he took the wristwatch out of its velvet wrappings and wrapped it around his right wrist, “When I was a kid, Itachi would bake them during Christmas. I always tried to help, but mine always ended up looking like gingerbread pies.”

The blonde laughed at that, and chose not to comment on the soft, heartbreaking expression on Sasuke’s face as he glanced down at his new watch, “So does that mean you know how to make them too? Looks like I found myself a free source.”

“Dream on, moron. Naturally I would make you pay, letting you into my house would cause enough damage as it is.” Sasuke remarked in that snarky tone of his, and Naruto actually found himself getting happy the Sasuke he knew - that being a total _bastard_ \- was still there. 

“Well, I better get going. There’s some ramen at home with my name on it.” Naruto grinned and slapped Sasuke firmly on the back as he stood up. 

“Naruto.” Sasuke called out, apparently standing up also and following Naruto’s path towards the door.  

Naruto glanced over just in time to see Sasuke place a hand on his bicep, holding it gently, a warm pressure against his arm. Naruto was slightly stunned from the gentleness of the gesture, mostly because he and Sasuke had only ever communicated through their expressions or exchange of insults. 

“Thank you.”

Two simple words had never made Naruto feel so…so…genuinely _proud_ of himself. Because the way Sasuke’s eyes were shining, translucent tears trapped between the rims and the way he gave Naruto’s arm a squeeze - it was so soft, you could miss it - were just so pure coming from this person. This person was Sasuke, and he had managed to make this Sasuke feel so grateful. He, _Naruto_ of all people, had made Sasuke Uchiha this thankful.

“Merry Christmas, Sasuke.” He murmured, smiling one of his rarer smiles at the Uchiha. It wasn’t big and obnoxious, it was simple and small, but it showed Naruto’s feelings clearly on his face. 

A spark passed between them in that moment, and something changed. But then Sasuke’s warm hand disappeared from his arm, and the two parted ways, bidding each other goodnight. 

And Naruto swore his heart had never felt lighter.


End file.
